A Moment Too Late
by Spiritus Scriptor
Summary: The last petal falls as the Beast has Gaston dangling over the edge of the roof, and, though Belle has returned, it is too late for her to break the spell. To make matters worse, Cogsworth suspects that she may have something to do with the attack on the castle. Belle decides to remain with the Beast, and together they resolve to find the Enchantress to set things right.
1. Chapter 1

**I deleted For the Best. It was really going nowhere. Maybe I'll rework the plot of that one at some point, but in the meantime, here's another, hopefully more plausible story. **

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_"We're not safe until his head is mounted on my wall! I say we kill the Beast!"_

"_No! I won't let you do this!"_

* * *

"_Sacre bleu_!" cried Lumiere. "Invaders!"

"Encroachers," Cogsworth agreed.

"And they have the mirror," Mrs. Potts noticed, seeing the hunter striding towards the castle doors, glowing mirror in hand.

"I knew it," said Cogsworth. "I just _knew_ when he let her go, she'd set the whole village on us!"

"Cogsworth, you don't really believe that, do you? She would never..." Lumiere admonished.

"Well, never mind that now. We must warn the Master. Mrs. Potts, go and find him…but don't tell him we suspect the girl had a hand in this. Lumiere, come with me. We must get everyone prepared."

No sooner had the words left his mouth then there came a frightening boom that echoed throughout the castle. The villagers were breaking down the door.

The pair didn't have to warn the rest of the staff. They already knew something was wrong. An army of enchanted items rushed into the front hall and pressed against the door, hoping against hope that it would hold until the Master came. If the mob got in, they'd run right back out at the sight of him, they were sure.

Mrs. Potts had found the Beast in the west wing, where he had been since Belle's departure. She had no luck getting the Master to notice or even care that they were under attack. He simply told her to let them come. If she'd had a heart, it would have broken at the sight of him. Though he was still a terrifying creature to behold, he had given up. There was simply no life left in him without Belle there. In a matter of weeks, she had become his entire world. And now that she was gone, it seemed that he had resigned himself to death.

Objects cannot die, but they can be broken. That Mrs. Potts knew full well. What would happen if they were to be damaged in the fight? Would they effectively die, or would they live on in shards and splinters? She didn't want to think about it, not right now, when there were far more serious matters at hand. And so she made her way to the kitchen to prepare the teacups for an ambush.

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The staff put up a brave fight, but what they didn't know was that the hunter with the mirror had made his way past the barrage of attacking furniture to the upper floors and was searching in earnest for the Beast. They were far too busy making sure every last one of the villagers left trembling in his boots to notice him slip past, hiding behind pillars and finding a way up via another staircase a fair distance from the action.

Gaston made his way silently through the endless corridors filled with doors on each side. Where could this creature be? He'd expected it to be downstairs in the thick of the battle, goring men with his horns and clawing them open. But no, it was nowhere in sight. Finally, he came to a dusty staircase leading to a dustier hallway. At the end was an enormous set of double doors. Perhaps this Beast was actually a coward…perhaps it was hiding.

He opened the door, wincing at the creak, and took aim. At the far end of the room was a monstrous creature hunched over and gazing out the window. At the sound of the intrusion it looked up at him with the most miserable, defeated gaze Gaston had ever seen in his life. But it did not touch his cruel heart. What struck him was the fact that the monster's eyes looked uncannily…human.

He shook the thought from his mind—thoughts were dangerous things, after all—and fired. The arrow plunged into the Beast's shoulder, and at last the Beast leapt up and gave a terrifying roar. Gaston only laughed, shoving him out the window and ordering him to fight.

"Too _kind _and _gentle_ to fight back?" he simpered derisively.

_Please…just leave me in peace,_ thought the Beast. _I just want to die in peace. _He had no will to fight anymore, and he lay there while Gaston mocked and taunted him for his weakness.

And then, a cry from below. It was Belle's voice. She had returned! Something about her presence gave him the strength to get up and face Gaston. He wanted to live again.

Around the tower roof he and Gaston chased each other. He had an advantage in that he could hide among the gargoyles. Soon he had him right where he wanted him—in a vice grip at the throat, dangling over the ledge. And suddenly the brave, handsome huntsman was begging and pleading for his life like a frightened child. As he held him aloft, an unnerving sinking feeling settled upon the Beast, as if all the misery and despair of the world were now upon his broad shoulders.

He pulled Gaston back over the edge and dropped him, telling him to leave. The hunter, frightened out of his wits and no longer caring in that moment if he won another trophy, fled down a narrow passage to the bridge. He was lucky to have survived. Later he would tell his friends of a strangely human monster who could talk, and whose capture had so far eluded him, much as it pained him to say. He'd need better weapons if he was to take him down once and for all. It was not his fault arrows were not enough to kill this creature.

The Beast, seeing Belle extending her hand to him from the balcony, scaled the roof and climbed over.

"You came back," he marveled, taking her delicate hands in his massive paws.

"Of course I did." She said, astonished that he thought she wouldn't. "I love you."

"You do?" he asked, breaking into a grin. This was it. Any moment now, he and everyone else under the spell would be human again. He waited, staring down at his paws and knowing any minute they would turn back into hands.

But they didn't. And as he looked past Belle into his room, he saw why. The last petal of the rose had already fallen. That was what that agonizingly miserable feeling had been. The moment he'd had Gaston dangling by the neck was the moment his fate had been sealed forever.

As the thunder clapped overhead, he turned away from Belle and trudged wearily back inside.

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**I know this is only the beginning, but please review and tell me what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Uploading another chapter before I have my wisdom teeth out tomorrow, after which I will probably be doing nothing for a couple of days. **

**Come to think of it, I've been working on my plot bunnies for the past three weeks and not uploading anything to the stories I've been working on for the better part of a year. My reviewers think I'm dead. **

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"Oh, no!" Belle exclaimed, following him into the dark chamber. "You've been shot!"

The Beast rotated his arm and felt a searing pain in the back of his shoulder. Belle drew close to examine it. "Sit down and let me have a look," she pleaded. He complied, knowing all too well that she could be just as stubborn as him. He sank into the chair by the window where he'd been ever since she left, watching and hoping for her return.

Belle drew his cape aside so she could have a closer look at his injury. Most of the shaft had broken off in the fight, and the arrow itself had not pierced completely through his thick hide. "It's not deep," she noted, breathing a sigh of relief. "But it needs to be taken out and cleaned right away."

She led him downstairs to the drawing room, where she was greeted by several relieved but disappointed-looking members of the household.

"Mrs. Potts, I need hot water right away." she directed. "Beast has been wounded."

"Right away, my dear." the teapot gave a nod and hopped off. Looking back, she added, "And thank you for coming back, even if…"

"Even if the spell was not broken," said Lumiere, standing next to Cogsworth, who looked at Belle in suspicion and remaining silent.

"What does the spell have to do with me?" she asked. Any fool could see that there was an enchantment on the castle, but she had never known that she played a part in breaking it.

She would ask about it later. Right now she had to focus her attention on making sure her Beast was taken care of. Soon enough, Mrs. Potts was back with hot water and clean linens stacked on her tea tray. Belle poured hot water into a bowl and soaked a towel. Then she realized that there was really no dignified way to go about bandaging him.

"Beast?" she asked the cringing monster who sat before her. "I need to clean your wound now… but your shirt is in the way."

Wordlessly, he eased his arm out of the sleeve so that his shirt hung loose but still covered him somewhat. Poor Belle looked absolutely mortified already.

"Adam," he said. She may as well know his name now that he was sure the spell would never be broken.

"What?" she asked, looking away from him as he covered himself.

"My name is Adam."

"Oh." she said, now gazing at the expanse of his back, her face feeling hot. The arrow was still poking out of his shoulder, but now the fur around it was matted with blood. "Adam?" she felt horrible for calling him 'Beast' all that time now that she knew his name.

"Yes?" he tried not to wince as she prodded at the arrow.

"I need to cut your hair….your fur…and it might be easier if you sit on the floor. It's difficult to do this from the side." she explained awkwardly. She could feel her face turning a vibrant shade of red that she was glad he couldn't see.

"All right." Holding his shirt against his chest, he sat down in front of the fire so that she would have light to work by. Before she could move, a coat rack with a pair of shears nudged her aside gently and began to cut away the matted fur.

"Thank you," she told the faceless barber as she returned with a damp towel. "Now, Adam, please. I need you to hold very, very still. This is going to hurt, but it will be quick." With one hand she deftly pulled out the arrow as she placed the towel over the wound to catch the blood.

"Oh, dear." she whispered to herself, but he heard her.

"What is it?" he asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"It's deeper than I thought," she replied, pressing the towel tighter against his back. "I may need to stitch it up." she explained, afraid of his reaction. He'd flinched at her touch when she had made to clean the wound on his arm from the wolves.

"Won't it just stop?" he asked.

"Not likely," she said. "My father cut himself once in his workshop and told me to stitch it up because otherwise it wouldn't stop bleeding."

"So…you've done this before?"

"Yes," she assured him. "Can someone find me a needle and thread? And scissors." She didn't mention it to Adam, but she wasn't sure it work. His hide was much thicker than human skin, and she was afraid that the needle might break.

Almost instantly Mrs. Potts was gone and back again with the needed supplies. Belle called Lumiere over and ran the needle through his flame.

It held through the process, and though the stitches were crude, they remained sound and the bleeding was somewhat staunched.

"There," she said, as she cut the last thread and wiped the blood away with a towel. "It's done."

"That," he groaned. "Really hurt."

"I'm sorry, but it was the only way I could…" she faltered

"Could what?"

"Save your life."

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"Adam?" she asked a while later. Though she was exhausted, he was still in a tremendous amount of pain and she had decided to stay up with him. Not too long ago she had fashioned him a makeshift sash bandage as he was still bleeding a little. Her father had been given a room for the night, which had surprised him greatly. The last time he was here, he'd been thrown in the dungeon.

"Hm?" he growled. Belle knew by now that it was just the gruffness of his voice that made him sound harsh.

"The spell…the enchantment, what does it have to do with me?"

"I'd rather not say," he told her, turning away.

"Please?" she was pressing the issue, she knew, and changed or not, he still had an explosive temper sometimes.

"All right…" he sighed. "One night, a long time ago, an old woman came to the door asking if I'd be so kind as to give her a place to sleep for the night, as it was so cold. I was only a child, and I was terribly frightened by her ugliness. She told me that beauty was found within, and gave me that rose as payment, but again I refused her. I did not want that hideous old crone here, even if I would not have to see her. Her mere presence would have given me nightmares for weeks." he said, waving his paw in emphasis. "She then turned into a beautiful woman, but her words were ugly. She called me cruel, a spoiled child, and…well…you can see for yourself."

"That's horrible!" Belle cried. "You were only a _child_?"

He nodded and continued, "And the only way that the curse could be broken was if someone found it in their heart to love me as I am. It was meant to teach me a lesson, but instead all it brought were years of pain."

"And I was the only person who could break it," she finished.

"You were the only person willing to see me for who I truly am," he sighed, covering his grotesque face with one monstrous paw. "With his next breath, he said, "You should go to bed. You must be tired."

"I am, a little." she admitted.

"Go, then." he ordered gently. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night, Adam."

Belle retreated from the room. After she was gone, the Beast sat for a long time staring into the flames in the fireplace and thinking about how wonderful it was just to hear her say his name.

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**The story should be getting well under way in the next few chapters. Conflicts to be resolved, and all that. **

**Review, pretty please!**


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